Shengde Medical Secures Nearly RMB 100 Million Series A Financing to Accelerate Innovative 'Cardiovascular Devices + AI + Services' Ecosystem

VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) learned第一时间获悉 that recently,Innovative Cardiovascular Device R&D and Industrialization Platform – Nanjing Saint Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Saint Medical") has completed a nearly 100-million-yuan Series A round of financing.This round of financing includes the A-1 round completed in January 2022 by Eagle Capital, Shenzhen High-Tech Investment, and Jianyuan Tianhua Investment, as well as the A-2 round completed in May 2022 by Kaitai Capital, Nanjing Innovation Investment Group, and Jiangbei New Area Technology Investment Group. Probe Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round of financing.

It is reported that the proceeds of this round of financing will be used not only to advance the clinical trials jointly initiated by Xcor, the first interventional valve product, with several top cardiac centers in China, but also to accelerate the landing of Saint Medical's innovative closed-loop industry chain for structural heart disease treatment, which integrates Medical Device + Digital Medicine + Service.

Dr. Chenming Ma, founder of Saint Medical, completed his clinical medicine studies in China (Peking University Health Science Center) and Germany (Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin).After graduation, worked for many years at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, and Deutsches Herzzentrum München (German Heart Center Munich), among other internationally top-tier cardiovascular hospitals. During this time, accumulated extensive experience in transcatheter valve treatment surgeries and participated in the research, development, and testing of various transcatheter valve products.Dr. Ma Chenming's teacher, Professor Rüdiger Lange, the co-founder of Saint Medical, serves as the Medical Director of the German Heart Center Munich and is a legendary cardiac surgeon. He was among the first cardiac surgeons worldwide to perform transcatheter heart valve interventions and achieved several world-first records in TAVR procedures as early as 2007.

According to VCBeat, the clinical trial of Saint Medical's first transcatheter aortic valve replacement product has gathered leading experts from almost all of China's top cardiac centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and more. Closely integrating with clinical practice, addressing clinical pain points, and achieving personalized patient treatment through forward-looking research and development are the greatest features of Saint Medical.

Throughout the world, the birth of breakthrough medical devices has always originated from the brilliant ideas and close cooperation between doctors and engineers. Apart from the top clinical experts worldwide,The core team of Saint Medical also includes a senior engineering team with over 20 years of experience in the European cardiovascular field and a group of registration, R&D, and testing experts who have been deeply involved in the medical field in China for many years.Georg Börtlein, Co-founder of Saint Medical, is one of the earliest engineers in the world to engage in the design of heart implant valves. The aortic implant valve he led the design of as the first patent applicant — CoreValve — is the world's first commercially available heart implant valve and also one of the current global leaders in interventional valves.

Saint Medical is committed to building an innovative diagnostic and device technology industrialization platform in the field of heart valve disease.Through close industry-university-research transformation relationships with numerous universities and enterprises in Germany, as well as experts and engineers from multiple domestic universities and hospitals, Saint Medical is committed to building continuous innovation and iteration of truly original Chinese technology.

Clinical value and operability are the core factors restricting the implementation of advanced medical technologies represented by structural heart disease. Based on clinical needs, the Saint Medical team is committed to providing innovative and efficient comprehensive solutions that integrate devices, AI, and services, promoting the rapid development and widespread adoption of minimally invasive cardiovascular surgeries in China.

In addition to filling the market gap in the medical device pipeline and collaborating with the global cardiovascular service platform,In 2021, Saint Medical collaborated with top data and algorithm experts in China to establish TopWave Data Technology (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "TopWave").The TAVR surgical decision-support system (Tavigator CDSS) developed by Top Medical applies deep learning to achieve fully automated, end-to-end procedural planning and measurement of aortic root anatomical structures from CT images. It provides critical support for valve selection and intraoperative complication risk prediction, enabling a true "one-click" operation for cardiac valve surgery planning. This innovation significantly lowers the barrier for performing surgeries, improves accessibility, and revolutionizes traditional surgical approaches. The system is currently undergoing joint iteration at several top cardiac centers in China.

The first transcatheter aortic valve product Xcor from Saint Medical underwent a process that included starting mass production in February 2021, initiating animal experiments in August 2021, obtaining the type inspection report in December 2021, passing the first ethics review in February 2022, and completing the first human implantation in May 2022 by Professor Guo Yingqiang's team from West China Hospital of Sichuan University. The extreme efficiency of bringing the first product from development to clinical application fully demonstrates the founding team's profound expertise in forward research and industrialization within the cardiovascular field, as well as the efficient collaboration among the production, quality, and registration teams.

"Technology for Good, Compassion as Medicine" is the philosophy of Saint Medical. Saint Medical will operate with a global perspective, continuously providing doctors and patients with original products of international first-class quality, and promoting the advancement of minimally invasive medical technology in China.

He Xing, Managing Partner of Nanjing Yingmeng Capital, said:As one of the earliest investors in Saint Medical, we have witnessed the team's dedication and deep cultivation in the field of artificial heart valves. The success of the Xcor valve clinical surgery is not only a milestone but also a great encouragement. Saint Medical, with a focus on the cardiac structure and cardiovascular characteristics of the Chinese population, has independently innovated, empowered by professionalism and technology, and is committed to solving long-standing heart ailments that have troubled patients. Eagle Capital has reinvested, demonstrating full confidence in Saint Medical’s professional capabilities and development potential. We believe that the series of Saint Medical products will achieve success both clinically and commercially, bringing good news to a wider range of patients.

Duan Weiwei, General Manager of Shanghai No.2 Department of Shenzhen High-tech Investment Venture Capital Company, said:Shenzhen High-Tech Investment has always been very attentive to the field of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Especially with the intensification of aging, the potential market and the unique needs of patients offer Chinese innovative medical device companies an opportunity to overtake competitors. We are highly honored to invest in Saint Medical, an innovative medical device company with independent research and development capabilities. Its self-developed TAVR product and the surgical assistance decision-making system, TAVIGATOR, form a highly competitive and differentiated combination solution. We believe that Saint Medical will surely accumulate strength and emerge as a leader in the industry.

Zhu Guanyu, Vice President of Jianyuan Tianhua Investment Company, said:Jianyuan Tianhua is committed to finding projects with explosive potential in niche fields, and Saint Medical is a typical representative. The advantages of TAVR surgery in heart valve implantation have already been validated in European and American countries, and China is no exception, facing tremendous development opportunities. The moat of Saint Medical lies in its possession of a world-class expert team. The valve products currently in its pipeline are among the global leaders in terms of design, functionality, and operation. Meanwhile, Saint Medical’s AI preoperative planning software has also been recognized by multiple authoritative experts in China for its practicality and accuracy. Jianyuan Tianhua believes that as its innovative product pipeline becomes more complete, Saint Medical will surely achieve greater development and attain significant commercial success.

Xu Jinzhong, partner of Cathay Capital, stated:All of Kaitai Capital's investments in the medical field start with "unmet clinical needs." During the due diligence process of Saint Medical, we observed that in the high-profile industry of heart valve diseases, the evolving needs of patients remain unmet. This is due to factors such as the younger onset of valvular diseases, increased human life expectancy, and distinct cardiovascular characteristics among the Chinese population. The Saint Medical team, with its strong clinical background, has recognized these changing needs and approached R&D and business operations with an international integration mindset, which has given us great confidence and imagination for investment. We believe that Saint Medical will become an outstanding disease-oriented medical enterprise of the new era.

Yan Peng'an, head of the biopharmaceutical investment team at Nanjing Innovation Investment Group, stated:At present, domestically produced medical devices are in a stage of rapid development, and the scale of the medical device market is also gradually expanding. However, in clinical practice, especially in the field of structural heart disease, there is still a lack of "good" products. The Saint Medical team has innovatively developed products tailored to the characteristics of heart valves and blood vessels in Chinese people. Four original products have completed design and preliminary experiments, and the core product, the Xcor valve, has entered the clinical trial stage. This fills the gap in the field of structural heart disease devices in Nanjing and provides a "Nanjing solution" for various types of valve diseases. We look forward to the early market launch of Saint Medical's products to benefit a wide range of patients.

Zhu Zhiang, Deputy General Manager (Acting General Manager) of Jiangbei Science and Technology Investment Group, stated:We are very pleased to invest in and support Saint Medical, an excellent, pragmatic, and highly innovative company, in the Series A round. Saint Medical has a multidisciplinary team with international backgrounds. Based on a profound understanding of structural heart disease, they independently develop world-leading innovative heart valve products, addressing unmet clinical needs with differentiation. As a state-owned investment and financing platform directly under the Jiangbei New Area Management Committee, Jiangbei Science and Technology Investment Group has been committed to supporting the innovative development of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises in the new area. We have witnessed that since its registration and establishment in Jiangbei New Area in April 2019, Saint Medical has grown from one product to four products and from a few employees to over eighty employees. We look forward to Saint Medical continuously advancing the development and iteration of innovative valve products through persistent independent research and development, promoting the widespread adoption of valve replacement surgery, and benefiting more cardiovascular patients in China.